FATHER CHARGED WITH MURDER IN DEATH OF 2-YEAR-OLD

When detectives first asked James Hoskins about the death of his 2-year-old son, Kevin Bennett, Hoskins told them his 3-year-old son had killed the boy.

Hoskins said that James Bennet, the 3-year-old, beat the younger boy to death with a broken fragment from a dresser drawer while Hoskins was asleep in front of the television set.

But a day later, on Saturday, Hoskins, 25, of 2030 S. State St., broke down and began to tell a different story of the killing. He signed a confession and was charged with the murder, according to Detective Patrick Carroll of the Wentworth Area violent crimes unit.

Hoskins told police he had become enraged when Kevin began playing with the needle of a record player. He began using his fists on the child`s body, police said. Kevin Bennett suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs, a lacerated kidney and severe facial injuries. An autopsy report indicated the child died of brain damage.

At first Kevin`s mother, Yolanda Bennet, 24, tried to protect Hoskins by corroborating his story, police said. She had protected him in the past when Kevin had been beaten.

She told police that several months ago, the Department of Children and Family Services had investigated suspected child abuse when Kevin went to the hospital with cuts and bruises on his face. She refused to implicate Hoskins in that beating and DCFS dropped the investigation, ruling the complaint unsubstantiated, police said.

Throughout the investigation, Carroll said he had been thinking about his 2-year-old grandaughter. He said he has investigated about 20 similar cases of child abuse.

''Usually it`s the parents,'' Carroll said Sunday. ''It`s most always the parents. I can never figure out why. People deny it at first, and then, little by little, the whole story comes out as this one did. You get kind of disgusted after a while.''

The questioning of Kevin`s parents, and their responses, also fit that pattern. In this case the boy`s mother attempted to shift the blame from Hoskins and blame her 3-year-old son, police said. At first she told detectives that she had been home all day last Friday with Hoskins when she heard her sons fighting in a rear bedroom.

Initially, she told police that her 3-year-old killed Kevin by beating him with a piece of wood that had been broken from the dresser.

But detectives then began chipping away at the woman`s story. They learned that at the time of Kevin`s death she actually had been visiting her mother at an apartment in the 4900 block of South State Street. When detectives confronted her about the inconsistency, she told police she was afraid to confront Hoskins about Kevin`s death. Hoskins had threatened her when DCFS investigators had come to their home, she said.

''She started telling us that she had her doubts about him,'' Carroll said. ''But her parents were telling her to wait for the autopsy report on Saturday. When it came in, she stopped trying to protect him. This was her son that was dead. She knew that a 3-year-old with a piece of wood couldn`t have done that kind of damage.''

When police then told Hoskins about the autopsy and that his girlfriend would not corroborate his story, Hoskins confessed, Carroll said.

''The part of his story that remained the same was the fact that he was dozing at first. It was Friday about 1 or 2 in the afternoon,'' Carroll said. ''I`ve got a little granddaughter of my own,'' Carroll said. ''She`ll go after everything that`s not tied down. That`s how little kids are. But you don`t beat them to death.''

Hoskins is being held without bond in Cook County Jail pending a scheduled appearance in Violence Court Tuesday.